The NBA released its selections for the 2012 All-Star team. Needless to say there are a lot of snubs, and some real headscratchers. How the hell did Deron Williams get nominated ahead of Rajon Rondo? Williams is having an AWFUL season; Rondo is having his normal brilliant season.
In an effort to assess the overall strength of both the fan and coaches selections, I have ranked each of the All-Stars by VALUE. The rankings are presented below (to understand each column, consult the Courtside Glossary for a simple explanation of each). Based on my calculations, LeBron James is the best All Star, but some of the players voted in by the fans (Carmelo, for instance) and nominated by the coaches (Chris Bosh and Deron Williams) do not belong anywhere near an All Star game roster.
Value Ranking of the 2012 NBA All-Stars
| ALL STARS | WS | DWS | MWS | W% | W__L | W>0.5% | VALUE |
| L James | 17.75 | 4.49 | 6.63 | 1.627 | 6.0__(-2.3) | 4.2 | 10.2 |
| K Love | 17.78 | 6.48 | 5.65 | 1.461 | 5.7__(-1.8) | 3.7 | 9.4 |
| K Durant | 14.14 | 4.93 | 4.59 | 1.284 | 5.0__(-1.1) | 3.1 | 8.1 |
| D Howard | 19.39 | 10.35 | 4.52 | 1.269 | 4.9__(-1.0) | 2.9 | 7.9 |
| A Iguodala | 12.67 | 4.33 | 4.17 | 1.211 | 4.3__(-0.7) | 2.5 | 6.8 |
| B Griffin | 14.57 | 8.32 | 3.12 | 1.033 | 3.6__(-0.1) | 1.8 | 5.4 |
| S Nash | 11.86 | 4.84 | 3.51 | 1.098 | 3.3__(-0.3) | 1.8 | 5.1 |
| D Rose | 9.05 | 3.89 | 2.58 | 0.941 | 3.3__0.2 | 1.6 | 4.9 |
| P Pierce | 10.29 | 4.29 | 2.99 | 1.011 | 3.2__(-0.1) | 1.6 | 4.8 |
| L Deng | 9.74 | 4.21 | 2.76 | 0.971 | 3.2__0.1 | 1.6 | 4.8 |
| A Bynum | 18.08 | 12.07 | 3.01 | 1.012 | 3.0__0.0 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| C Paul | 13.09 | 6.32 | 3.38 | 1.077 | 2.9__(-0.2) | 1.6 | 4.5 |
| M Gasol | 14.39 | 11.34 | 1.52 | 0.761 | 3.1__0.9 | 1.1 | 4.2 |
| K Bryant | 8.22 | 5.15 | 1.53 | 0.763 | 3.0__1.0 | 1.1 | 4.1 |
| L Alridge | 12.64 | 9.97 | 1.33 | 0.729 | 2.9__1.1 | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| J Johnson | 6.91 | 4.03 | 1.44 | 0.747 | 2.8__1.0 | 0.9 | 3.7 |
| D Wade | 9.22 | 3.79 | 2.71 | 0.963 | 2.3__0.1 | 1.1 | 3.4 |
| R Westbrook | 7.46 | 5.67 | 0.89 | 0.655 | 2.5__1.3 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
| R Hibbert | 14.26 | 11.72 | 1.27 | 0.718 | 2.2__0.9 | 0.7 | 2.9 |
| T Parker | 7.09 | 5.81 | 0.64 | 0.611 | 2.3__1.5 | 0.4 | 2.7 |
| C Bosh | 11.51 | 10.54 | 0.49 | 0.585 | 2.2__1.6 | 0.3 | 2.5 |
| D Nowitzki | 10.12 | 9.36 | 0.38 | 0.567 | 1.6__1.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 |
| C Anthony | 6.86 | 6.88 | -0.01 | 0.501 | 1.6__1.5 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| D Williams | 5.82 | 8.82 | -1.49 | 0.248 | 1.0__3.0 | -1.1 | -0.1 |
| AVERAGES | 11.79 | 6.98 | 2.39 | 0.911 | 1.4 | 4.6 |
LeBron, Love and Durant are the top All-Stars
As I mentioned above, the very sensitive LeBron James is having a magnificent season. Behind him, Kevin Love (the man everyone assured me would be the next “Big Country Reeves”) is having another spectacular season, despite his recent suspension for his Suh Stomp on the Houston Rocket PF Luis Scola. And, in the top 3 we also have SF Kevin Durant. With the most recent setback to Portland C Greg Oden, it appears Durant was the better choice in that draft.
Behind those three stands Dwight Howard, the three time winner of the Marginal Win Score MVP. Howard is having a down season by his standards, and it is mainly because his defensive effort has declined.
After that you have the grossly underappreciated Andre Iguodala, the highly productive 76er SF. He is having a great season.
The only other player I will mention is PG Derrick Rose. Last season he was named the MVP, although most analytical NBA writers argued that he was not close to being the Association’s Most Valuable Player. But, give him his due. He has really blossomed under Chicago’s new regime, and his value keeps going up.
The Biggest Snubs left off this year’s All Star Rosters
The biggest snubs in the All Star nomination process were
C Tyson Chandler (Value 5.9)
SG James Harden (Value 4.2)
PF/C Pau Gasol (Value 5.4)
PG Rajon Rondo (Value 4.1)
SF Gerald Wallace (Value 4.9)
PF/C Carlos Boozer (Value 4.9)
Tags: 2012 NBA All-Star Team, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, LeBron James, Marginal Win Score, NBA, Ty Willihnganz, Value Ranking, Win Score
